Developments
by garnet thrill
Summary: Eventual CO. Casey and Olivia are pissed at each other over the smallest things and Elliot is determined to find out why. Sorry, this story is on indefinite hiatus.
1. Confusion

Woo! My first SVU fic is off the ground. Eventually Casey/Olivia, which is femslash. Don't like, don't read. Rated T for language, but will most likely get up to M in future.  
**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, Dick Wolf is just sharing them with me for a bit.**

* * *

"What the hell was that? One fucking witness?"  
"How was I supposed to know the other one was going to go and have a heart attack?"  
"You could have had more conclusive evidence...anything!"  
"You were the one who agreed he was okay for trial!"  
Her red hair swished, leaving a trail of perfume in her wake as she stormed out the door. "Fuck you, Benson."  
Olivia stood stock-still in ADA Casey Novak's office, eyes shut, inhaling the sweet scent.

The next morning, she stood in the exact same spot, facing the other way, holding two cups of coffee. "Hey, I'm sorry about yesterday, Novak."  
Casey glanced up perfunctorily from her paperwork and nodded. "Not completely your fault."  
Olivia moved a little bit closer, feeling awkward, and placed one of the coffee cups on the ADA's desk. "Well...I'll see you later."  
Casey watched Olivia walk out the door, looking back down at her paperwork quickly as the detective moved out of sight.

Elliot straightened from where he had been leaning against Olivia's desk. "Liv, you're half an hour late! I thought you'd want to get more evidence on this guy. One witness changing her statement...not the end of the world."  
Olivia sighed. "El, it's not that I don't want to get this guy. I'm just...dealing with some other stuff, okay?"  
Elliot looked at his partner knowingly. "Drinks later?"  
She nodded quickly and sat down at her desk. "So. Devon Post, who had the heart attack. How's she holding up?"  
He shut his eyes briefly. "Died an hour ago. The call came in when you were supposed to be here."  
"Shit," Olivia muttered. She let her head drop into her hands. "Novak is going to kill me."  
"You? We're a team, Liv. If she kills you, she kills me too."  
"Never mind, El. Let's look for some more evidence, huh?"  
"Liv. You're acting weird. What's going on with you and Novak?"  
"Me and Novak? Nothing! Nothing."  
Elliot gave her a look, but decided not to press things just yet. Well, not with Olivia, at least.

"Hey, Novak. Casey!"

Casey turned as Detective Stabler jogged up to her. "New evidence?"  
Elliot's eyes shifted around slightly as he scratched his neck and said, "No, actually, it's...it's Olivia. What's going on between the two of you?"  
The ADA stiffened a bit. "Benson? Nothing's going on. Nope. Look, this is my first free lunch break in a long time, Stabler, so unless you have something case-related for me, I'd like to get out for some fresh air. Why don't you head on back to the precinct?" Casey walked off quickly, relaxing only when the New York air hit her face.

A very confused Elliot Stabler was left standing outside Casey's office, pondering what exactly was going on with her and his partner. He had to get to the bottom of this.  
"They don't call me Detective for nothing," he thought to himself.


	2. Opacity

Hope you guys like this chapter...I was a bit distracted while I was writing it so if there's anything that seems weird or off, just tell me! Eventually Casey/Olivia, which is femslash. Don't like, don't read. Rated T for language, but will most likely get up to M in future.

* * *

Elliot had come up with a plan. As he went over it in his head again and again, it seemed pretty damn good. "Action."  
The downside of this plan was, he seemed to be talking to himself a whole lot more.

"Morning, Liv," Elliot said, almost bouncing up beside her.  
"Someone had too much sugar in his coffee." Olivia's facial expression wasn't exactly inviting, but Elliot went ahead anyway.  
"So, we never got around to drinks last night. How about today?"  
Olivia looked at Elliot, a slight frown beginning to shadow her face. "If you have something to tell me, El, you can do it now."  
Elliot feigned shock, but not overdramatically. He hoped. "No, no, nothing to tell you. I just...you know, wanted to go out for a drink or two."  
Olivia was still frowning, but she agreed. "Sure. 8 o'clock, the usual place?" Her eyebrows rose.  
Elliot smiled a bit too widely. "Yeah, eight."  
His partner's brow arched a little more. As she went through the door of SVU alone, Elliot turned around to carry out the second step of his plan. "She even raises her eyebrows like Novak. Seriously. Okay, okay, gotta stop talking to myself." He walked on.

Someone knocked at Casey's door, pretty much inviting themselves to have their heads bitten off. "Come in," she called, attempting to keep her voice level. Everything seemed to be going wrong, especially since she couldn't get a certain SVU detective off her mind.  
Said detective's partner entered her office, looking nervous.  
"Judging from what happened yesterday and the look on your face, you still don't have any new leads."  
"No, we don't, but...you've seemed pretty stressed out lately and I was wondering if you wanted to come for drinks with a bunch of us tonight."  
Casey looked up with him scathingly, then flung her arms out, indicating the expanse of paper on her desk. "Stabler. Do I look like I have the time to go out for drinks with a bunch of detectives?"  
Elliot was more than a bit nervous now, but he still soldiered on. "Just...an hour. Please?"

Olivia entered the bar a few minutes early, stifling a yawn. As expected, Elliot wasn't there yet. She sat down and ordered a beer, but her attention was directed to the door by a familiar auburn glint almost instantly. She was halfway out of her chair before she realized what she was doing. "Case- um..." She looked away and sat back down, staring at her beer intently.  
The stool next to her scraped and she looked up again. "Hey." Casey didn't smile, but at least she was talking. "You here alone?"  
"Nah, Elliot's going to meet me soon. He should be here now, actually."  
Casey raised an eyebrow. "Elliot?"  
Olivia raised one of her own, mocking Casey. "My partner. Heard of him?"  
Casey chuckled slightly. "No- yeah, I mean- it's just, uh, he was the one who invited me here. He said a bunch of people were coming."  
Olivia thought now that she might have an idea of what was going on. "And yet you and I are the only ones here."  
Casey ordered a drink of her own, and the small amount of conversation they'd had dwindled into an awkward silence. It was soon clear that nobody else was showing up and that both their glasses were empty.

The bar was quiet for that time of evening, so the sudden bang of the door opening caused pretty much everyone to jump.  
"Hey…" Had Elliot's emotional strength been any weaker, he would have run away screaming at the laser-like glares coming from both women.  
Olivia stood up first, shortly followed by Casey. They both said something to the effect of "W_hat_ is going on here?" with different degrees of profanity.  
Elliot raised his hands like a more cooperative suspect. "I just wanted to get you two in the same place so you could…talk it out."  
Casey moved closer to Elliot, getting into his face. "It's not your place to make us talk it out, Stabler. Olivia and I have our own problems and we will figure them out in our own way, _at our own pace_." She stormed out the door, leaving Elliot standing in the same place.  
Olivia walked over slowly and put her hand on Elliot's arm. "I'm gonna have to agree, El," she said softly. "Casey and I…maybe I'll tell you what's going on after we sort things out, but I'm sorry. You have to stay out of it for now." She walked out the door, looking melancholy.

Elliot figured he could do nothing now but be puzzled and get a drink of his own.


	3. Realization

What kind of writer am I?? I don't update for more than a week and when I do, the chapter's about as long as an inchworm. Eep! Don't kill me. I hope to placate you with this small gem. It's...short and sweet...?

* * *

Elliot's puzzlement didn't last long. It could have stretched further, but a few hours later, he got a phone call that sent him straight out of bed. Olivia had broken the case with irrefutable DNA evidence. "How'd you think to look _under_ the seat?" he asked.  
"Sudden flash of inspiration, I guess. Hurry on over, we need to arrest the guy again."

Before Elliot walked through the doors of the squad room, he heard a heated argument going on. He had his suspicions about who was yelling, which were confirmed when he pushed the door open and saw his partner and Casey Novak inches away from coming to blows. "Jesus Christ! What the hell is wrong with you two?"  
Casey turned her wrath on Elliot, nearly screaming in his face. "Detective Benson here decided that it was okay to search a car without a warrant! The evidence she found is fucking brilliant, but now it's inadmissible in court!" She exited the squad room, taking her violent urges out on the door.

Elliot frowned. It wasn't like Olivia to be that rash. "You didn't get a warrant first?"  
She glared at him. "I had to search it. I woke up at midnight for a _reason_, Elliot. I called Casey here at 2am precisely so she could get me a warrant."  
"After you'd gotten the evidence."  
"Nobody would know! She doesn't always have the most upstanding- never mind. Anyway, there's nothing else we can do now but go back to bed and wait for Cragen to yell at me in the morning. See you."

A few hours later, everyone was back at SVU...except for Olivia. Captain Cragen left his office and gave the entire unit the evil eye before barking, "She's still not here?"  
"She is, she's just wearing an invisibility cloak," Munch deadpanned.  
"Shut up, John," Cragen said, exasperated. "Let-"  
"-you know when she gets in. We know, Cap. You've told us about sixty times." Fin glanced up at Cragen, in a very it's-not-my-fault-she's-not-here way.  
The captain returned to his desk, rehearsing his tirade for the sixty-first time while keeping an eye on the door.

Fifteen minutes later, the door to the squad room opened, revealing a very disheveled ADA. "Uh, Liv wants me to let you know she'll be here in five." Before anyone could react, she'd sped off to wherever she had to be.  
"She called her Liv. And why would Olivia call _her_, anyway?" Elliot muttered to himself.  
"You say something, El?" Munch looked concerned for his coworker's sanity.  
"Huh? Oh, it's nothing. Just thinking out loud... Holy shit."  
"What?" Munch asked.  
"They're having a lover's tiff." He held on to the desk for support.


End file.
